[BHE 385] Book Hunting In The US of A (Part 1)

Myra here.

My family and I spent around a month in the US sometime in July. It was a combination of a business and leisure trip. While I presented a paper at the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, we also spent a great deal of time with family and friends who live in the Bay Area in California.

Naturally, I did some (ok, fine, a lot of) book shopping. Since I went to a number of places, I shall spread out my book hunting expedition posts across several parts. Here is the first one in the Bay Area: Livermore, Los Angeles, Antioch, and Oakley.

Book Hunting in Livermore: Barnes and Noble

Address: Hacienda Crossings, 4972 Dublin Blvd, Dublin, CA 94568

I didn’t really purchase anything while in Barnes and Noble, but I enjoyed window-shopping for books and seeing their selections.

Book Hunting in Los Angeles: Book Off

Address: 1025 Westminster Mall #1042, Westminster, CA 92683

We also went to Los Angeles for an overnight stay. We took Highway One, otherwise known as the scenic route that traversed the Pacific Coast Highway. It is absolutely gorgeous.

Finding this Book Off store was totally serendipitous, as my husband met a friend at Westminster Mall. I was thrilled to discover that they have a Book Off there. Here are my finds!

The Book Of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges and illustrated by Peter Sis (Book Depository | Amazon),

Book Hunting In Antioch and Oakley: Goodwill

Between the Lone Tree Way in Antioch and the Oakley branch, the former has a lot more diverse titles and the books are in pretty good condition. Plus, you can not possibly beat this price:

I bought a few books – not just for myself, but as gifts to family and friends. The challenge really is to find the perfect book for the perfect person, and I pray that I have given the book to them at the perfect time. Most of the books are in excellent condition.

Myra is a Teacher Educator and a registered clinical psychologist based in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Prior to moving to the Middle East, she lived for eleven years in Singapore serving as a teacher educator. She has edited five books on rediscovering children’s literature in Asia (with a focus on the Philippines, Malaysia, India, China, Japan) as part of the proceedings for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content where she served as the Chair of the Programme Committee for the Asian Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference from 2011 until 2019. While she is an academic by day, she is a closet poet and a book hunter at heart. When she is not reading or writing about books or planning her next reads, she is hoping desperately to smash that shuttlecock to smithereens because Badminton Is Life (still looking for badminton courts here at UAE - suggestions are most welcome).